PIM wUmm 



Gilo 
.BiB3 



ip 



J 




■LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.) 



t JMe//3A33 i i 



! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 







1 



[Jiiiin-tR 




Q^ 



lOETRY of the 




ELLS 



\y 






Collected by 



OLLE 



SAMUEL BATCHELDER, Jr 




RIVERSIDE PRESS 



PRINTED IN AID OF THE CAMBRIDGE" 
By H. O. Houghton and Company 

i8s8 



1* 



1 



o— b 




ll 



V ■■■-■>^^vJ 



-o— 








•_B3^3 



To call the fold to Church in time, 
We chime. 

When joy and mirth are en the wing, 
We ring. 

When we lament a departed soul, 
We toll." 









(X 






V 



o *gjS 



' . ->- *3 



-« J ^=-^> : L 



I CONTENTS. 



>V 






p""^- /v ^^"^^ ,v ^^^^' v ^ % ^^ vz ??^ / " 



0»^ 



PAGE 
5 



I 



Proem. Isabella James 

The Bell at Sea. Afrj. Hemans 8 

The Chimes of England. Arthur C. Coxe . . . . ro 

An Incident of the Fire at Hamburg. Lowell . . 14 

Vw£ Matin Bells. Arthur C. Coxe . • 18 I'O ' 

T -i 

<^L;V The Bells of Shandon. Rev. Francis Mahony . . 21 > >A 

\#L*r The Sabbath Bells. Charles Lamb 27 A&r 

|V Carillon. Longfellouo 24 

n, Song of the Bell. Longfellouo 28 

r The Cambridge Chime. E. Batchelder .... 10 

y .... 

/ Old Church Bells. Dublin University Magazine . . 32 

'm The Bells. Edgar A. Poe 34 

y The Spire of Strasburg Cathedral. Longfellouo . . 40 

> Church Bells. Keble 46 

/ St. Sylvan's Bell. Arthur C. Coxe ...... ci 

f 

/ Godminster Chimes. Louuell 57 

A Reverie. From a Friend 61 



jpl ^r^ K/^ >- 




^V^-f y ^Yx^^j^-r^ ^^ - y v V**> ^J 











PAGE 

From ,c Urania, a Rhymed Lesson/ ' O. IV Holmes . 6± ) 

w 

From ** In Memoriam, CIV." Tennyson .... 65 > 

Those Evening Bells. Moore 67 

From *' The Golden Legend.' 



Longfellow . 
Tennyson . 
How soft the Music of those Village Bells. Couoper 
L' Envoi. Editor ..,...,,,.,, 



From if In Memoriam, XXVIII.' 



o 

J 















^ 







3 



^J 






• ? ^-^ 



} 

V 





j ROM the square tower, 
' Heavy and flow, 
Toll the sad funeral 
Echoes of woe. 
3 Sadly and solemnly roll forth the knell, 
Y Firft for the loved one a requiem swell. $ 




Sweet was the mufic, 
Thrilling and low, 
From lips that once sounded 
Like water's clear flow — 




y _. 



w* 






^^rJ-^^k 



t^L^M 









v *Gp 



'*=£' 






§ 





'<%. 






Through din and disorder and changes 
of time, 

In his heart there was pealing a heav- 
enly chime. 

Ring from the belfry, 

Loudly and clear, 

Waves of loved harmonies, 

He cannot hear ; i 

For the voice that once chanted 

On earth the glad (train, 

Exalted to gjorv, 

Repeats it again. 

Then why fhould he liften 

To hope's earthly bells ? 

For all is fruition 

Where joyful he dwells. 



X 



vs\ 



1 




m 





*m 









A 



Ring from the tower, 

Merrily 

Over the Bride, 

Whose vows are made here. 
Cheerfully, hopefully, wedded in heart. 
What God joins together no creature 
mail part. 

Ring from the belfry, 

Gently a peal 

What time hath in keeping 

Of woe or of weal — 
For the Infant unconscioufly brought $i^|fl/ : " 

to acquire 
In waters baptismal the Spirit of fire. 

Ring out over hill-fide, 
Chime out over sea, 






. w: :i&c 




HW 




THE CHIMES OF ENGLAND. 

Upon the bells. — Zechariah. 

~^ y HE chimes, the chimes of Moth- ^Sji 
erland, 



7 



Of England green and old, 
That out from fane and ivied 



tower 



, A thousand years have tolled ; 
jyV- ■ How dorious muft their mufic be 
J|L j|P As breaks the hallowed dav, 

n 

J -y And calleth with a seraph's voice 

L 



■*> 



/a tM ' : ' 




A nation up to pray ! 

L J Those chimes that tell a thousand tales, ifeBu Q J il 
Q/>0 Sweet tales of olden time ; 





And ring a thousand memories 

At vesper, and at prime ! 

At bridal and at burial, 

For cottager and king, 

Those chimes — those glorious Chriftian 

chimes, 
How bleffedly they ring ! 






<§£ 





The chimes, those chimes of Mother- 
land, 
Upon a Chriftmas morn, 
Outbreaking as the angels did, 
For a Redeemer born ! 
How merrily they call afar, 
To cot and baron's hall, 
With holly decked and miftletoe, 
To keep the feftival ! 




> 



s> 



! 



W The chimes of England, how they 

V peal 

"X, From tower and Gothic pile, 

Where hymn and swelling anthem fill ^ 



* 



The dim cathedral aisle ; 

Where windows bathe the holy light 
i On prieftly heads that falls, 
%, And ftain the florid tracery 
* Of banner-dighted walls ! 

^ And then, those Eafter bells, in Spring, ^ 
Y Those glorious Eafter chimes ! } 

How loyally they hail thee round, 



Old Queen of holy times ! 



From hill to hill, like sentinels, 
X Responfively they cry, 
V* And fing the rifing of the Lord, 
w From vale to mountain high. 

~> c 



S)A(3 



%L*r Q vJLr — I A v ~ — 



n 



■v— 



IA •: 



1 



t^T? 



90/ 

o 



iifi^^giF^ 



RiF^P^eSOi^J 





2i 



%. 



I love ye — chimes of Motherland, 
With all this soul of mine, 
And bless the Lord that I am sprung 
Of good old Englifh line : 
%> And like a son I fing the lay 

V That England's glory tells ; 
. For flie is lovely to the Lord, 
f For you, ye Chriftian bells ! 

y 

f 

} And heir of her anceftral fame, 
Though far away my birth, 
Thee too I love, my Foreft-land, 

Y The joy of all the earth ; 
\ For thine thy mother's voice fhall be, 
aL And here — where God is King, 

With Englifh chimes, from Chriftian ^ 
r spires, AJ 

The wilderness fhall ring. & 

Arthur C. Coxe. 



4 
I 







IPf^^S^^P^ 







IM 












w 



<w 



i' 



J 

T 



y* 



^ 



? 






( 






mVsn 
X 



AN INCIDENT OF THE FIRE AT HAMBURG. 



4 



THE tower of old Saint Nicholas soared 
upward to the fkies, 
* Like some huge piece of Nature's make, the 

growth of centuries ; 4 

You could not deem its crowding spires a work 1 

of human art, 
They seemed to ftruggle lightward from a fturdy 
living heart. 



k 



Not Nature's self more freely speaks in cryftal or 

in oak, 
Than, through the pious builder's hand, in that 

gray pile fhe spoke ; 
And as from acorn springs the oak, so, freely and 

alone, 

r 

Sprang from his heart this hymn to God, sung in £ 

obedient ftone. 






►\j 



r v -■*-' s — ' <*k >. — s ^ y, — s^&r <^ s ^ & >— ^ ^ y~ y \<r\ f^\) 



^ g^g^ -j^fe ^^ ^^S*^ ^^"^ ^L g^S^ 



15 

It seemed a wondrous freak of chance, so perfect, 

yet so rough, 
A whim of Nature cryftallized flowly in granite 

tough ; 
The thick spires yearned towards the iky in 

quaint, harmonious lines, 
And in broad sunlight bafked and flept, like a 

grove of blafted pines. 

Never did rock or ftream or tree lay claim with 

better right 
To all the adorning sympathies of fhadow and of 

light ; 
And, in that foreft petrified, as forefter there 

dwells 
Stout Herman, the old sacriftan, sole lord of all 

its bells. 






Surge leaping after surge, the fire roared onward 

red as blood, 
Till half of Hamburg lay engulfed beneath the 

eddying flood ; 



a* 5^=^ 5^^ l^^P 5^=^ ^>Woo *.>-< i<..W *.>-y ^„ W is..w 33 






v 



16 

For miles away, the fiery spray poured down its 

deadly rain, 
And back and forth the billows sucked, and 

paused, and burft again. 



From square to square with tiger leaps rufhed on 

the Iuftful fire, 
The air to leeward fhuddered with the gasps of its 

defire ; 
\ And church and palace, which even now flood 

whelmed but to the knee, 
Lift their black roofs like breakers lone amid the 

whirling sea. 



Up in his tower old Herman sat and watched 

with quiet look ; 
His soul had trufted God too long to be at laft 
I forsook ; 

- He could not fear, for surely God a pathway 
would unfold 
Through this red sea for faithful hearts, as once 
he did of old. 



J 1 



y 






cfr 



But scarcely can he cross himself, or on his good 
saint call, 

I Before the sacrilegious flood o'erleaped the church- 2 
yard wall 7 
And, ere a pater half was said, 'mid smoke and (] 
crackling glare, 
J His ifland tower scarce juts its head above the ) 
wide despair. 



U 



9$S 



17 



tl 

] Upon the peril's desperate peak his heart flood up 

sublime ; 
I His firft thought was for God above,- his next i 

was for his chime y 
( " Sing now and make your voices heard in hymns 
Jf of praise," cried he, 

u As did the Israelites of old, safe walking through 

the sea! 

^ u Through this red sea our God hath made the 
pathway safe to fhore ; 
Our promised land ftands full in fight y fhout now 
as ne'er before ! " 
3 




'^^NJ *rs, 



; 



: 



T 



Y 



■ «i.H— i* J5..N-V £.> — < P..> < 



^ 



18 






And as the tower came crufhing down, the bells, 

in clear accord, 
Pealed forth the grand old German hymn, — u All 

good souls, praise the Lord ! " 

L ouo ell. 



MATIN BELLS. 
I myself will awake right early. — Psalter. 

f^|"|§HE Sun is up betimes, 

And the dappled Eaft is blufh- 
g> 
And the merry matin-chimes, 

They are gufhing — Chriftian — gufhing ! 
They are tolling in the tower, 

For another day begun ; 
And to hail the rifing hour 

Of a brighter, brighter Sun ! 
Rise — Chriftian — rise ! 

For a sunfhine brighter far 
Is breaking o'er thine eyes, 

Than the bonny morning ftar ! 



t 



I 



V 




[w, <^ > — s <»^ >~ s <^ > ^cXj <3K y---^ o^ y...s <^ K-. 



^J&- 



t 



9 









0° /a 






■u- 



- 



'9 



The lark is in the fky, 

And his morning-note is pouring : 
He hath a wing to fly, 

So he's soaring — Chriftian — soaring ! 
His neft is on the ground, 

But only in the night ; 
For he loves the matin-sound, 

And the higheft heaven's height. 
Hark— Chriftian— Hark! 

At heaven-door he lings ! 
And be thou like the lark, 

With thy soaring spirit-wings ! 

The merry matin-bells, 

In their watch-tower they are swinging ; 
For the day is o'er the dells, 

And they're finging — Chriftian — finging ! 
They have caught the morning beam 

Through their ivied turret's wreath, 
And the chancel-window's gleam 

Is glorious beneath : 



/€3H 



CO i_ 



n. 



■ 



K 



1 



<0s 






I 



I 

o 



I 

o 







I 






Go— Chriftian- — go, 

For the altar flameth there, 
And the snowy veftments glow 5 

Of the prefbyter at prayer ! 

There is morning incense flung 

From the childlike lily-flowers ; 
And their fragrant censer swung, 

Make it ours-r-Chriftian— ours ! 
And hark, our Mother's hymn, 

And the organ-peals we love ! 
They sound like cherubim 

At their orisons above ! 
Pray-^— Chriftian- — -pray, 

At the bonny peep of dawn, 
Ere the dewdrop and the sprav 

That chriften it, are gone ! 

Arthur C. Coxe, 



i 



Vv 



1 



O 



I 



T 





i^/-^ > 



? Z °J^ : ? 



-f 5 ) 



n 



"^'^:- ^W^^^ ' 



m 







THE BELLS OF SHANDON. 



iJITH deep affe&ion and recollection 
I often think of those Shandon bells, 
ft Whose sound so wild would, in days of childhood, > 

Fling round my cradle their magic spells ; 
, On this I ponder where'er I wander, 
If And thus grow fonder, sweet Cork, of thee, 
§? With thy bells of Shandon, 

That sound so grand on 



r 

X 



■-' 



/ 






•N 



i 
1 



The pleasant waters of the River Lee. 



4 I've heard bells chiming full many a clime in, 

Tolling sublime in Cathedral fhrine, 
f While at a glib rate brass tongues would vibrate,- 
P But all their mufic spoke naught like thine ; 
y For memory dwelling on each proud swelling 
i Of thy belfry knelling its bold notes free, 

Made the bells of Shandon 
j Sound far more grand on 

o 4 The pleasant waters of the River Lee. 



f 



m 



4^"^ >~^ 




^j^y ^j^—s ^j^^^ ^aV^^ ^1 ^? 



__^7 ^^^^^^^ 





I've heard bells tolling " old Adrian's mole " in, 

Their thunder rolling from the Vatican, 
And cymbals glorious swinging uproarious 
p In the gorgeous turrets of Notre Dame ; 
f But thy sounds were sweeter than the Dome of 
\ Peter 

Flings o'er the Tiber tolling solemnly, — 
Oh the bells of Shandon 
f Sound so grand on 

Y- The pleasant waters of the River Lee. 



S\ There's a bell in Moscow, while on tower and kiosko^kp 
In St. Sophia the Turkman gets, 



- 



. And loud in air calls men to prayer 

From the tapering summit of tall minarets ; 
Such empty phantom I freely grant them, 
f But there's an anthem more dear to me, — 
'Tis the bells of Shandon 
That sound so grand on 
■ v1 The pleasant waters of the River Lee. 

Rev. Francis Mahony. 






w 



b- 



■ ^ , .■ - X Y&jgr-^ ^^^^/ y )-^j^~x y ^^>j^- 




^-e> y~<"n ^j^i 





THE SABBATH BELLS. 

HE cheerful Sabbath bells, wherever heard, 
Strike pleasant on the sense, moft like the 

voice 
Of one who, from the far-off hills, pro- 
claims 

Tidings of good to Zion : chiefly when 
Their piercing tones fall sudden on the ear 
Of the contemplant, solitary man, 
Whom thoughts abstruse or high have chanced to lure 
Forth from the walks of men, revolving oft, 
And oft again, hard matter which eludes 
And baffles his pursuit, — thought-fick and tired 
Of controversy, where no end appears, 
No clue to his research, the lonely man 
Half wifties for society again. » 

Him, thus engaged, the Sabbath bells salute, 
Sudden ! his heart awakes, his ear drinks in 
The cheering mufic ; his relenting soul 
Yearns after all the joys of social life, 
And softens with the love of human kind. 

Charles Lamb. 





£s~k,^ f~V^ £^ j kfeh-kr*± h-kr^ a^ j 



CARILLON. 

• N the ancient town of Bruges, 
In the quaint old Flemifh city, 
As the evening fhades de- 
scended, 
Low and loud and sweetly blended, 
J Low at times and loud at times. 




w^w^^-^ ^j^Mm^ 



u^j And changing like a poet's rhymes, 
Rang the beautiful wild chimes, 
From the Belfry in the market 
Of the ancient town of Bruges. 



Then, with deep sonorous clangor 
Calmly answering their sweet anger, 
When the wrangling bells had ended, 
Slowly ftruck the clock eleven, 
And, from out the filent heaven, 
Silence on the town descended. 



o^P^To^ 



Z& ^^\-i **^\~^ 



W*^?-^ 




% 











25 




Silence, filence everywhere, 
On the earth and in the air, 
Save that footfteps here and there 
Of some burgher home returning, 
By the ftreet lamps faintly burning, 
For a moment woke the echoes 
Of the ancient town of Bruges. 

But amid my broken flumbers 
Still I heard those magic numbers, 
As they loud proclaimed the flight 
And ftolen marches of the night ; 
Till their chimes in sweet collifion 
Mingled with each wandering vifion, 
Mingled with the fortune-telling 
Gipsy-bands of dreams and fancies, 
Which amid the wafte expanses 



HI 



Of the filent land of trances 
vjkf' Have their solitary dwelling. 
.l^O^lQl All else seemed afleep in Bruges, 
In the quaint old Flemifh city. 



\ 



rj\ And I thought how like these chimes 
Are the poet's airy rhymes, 
All his rhymes and roundelays, 
His conceits, and songs, and ditties, 
From the belfry of his brain, 
Scattered downward, though in vain, 
On the roofs and ftones of cities ! 
For by night the drowsy ear 
Under its curtains cannot hear, 
And by day men go their ways, 
Hearing the mufic as they pass, 
But deeming it no more, alas ! 
Than the hollow sound of brass. 











H^® 






27 



A et perchance a fleepless wight, 
y Lodging at some humble inn 
In the narrow lanes of life, 
When the dufk and hum of night 
Shut out the inceflant din 
Of daylight, and its toil and ftrife, 
t May liften with a calm delight 
S^ To the poet's melodies, 

Till he hears, or dreams he hears, 
Intermingled with the song, 
f Thoughts that he has cherifhed long ; 
?$ V Hears amid the chime and finging 









-\J 



j 



y The bells of his own village ringing, 



And wakes,' and finds his flumberous 



eyes 



I 



y Wet with moft delicious tears. 
Y Thus dreamed I, as by night I lay 
y? In Bruges, at the Fleur-de-Ble, 



f 



r ^ 
4. 









f « 



V 



« 
X 









4^ 



i 



1 






I 
I 



I 



v 
I 



^Sssitf 







^^P? 







28 



Liftening with a wild delight 
^ To the chimes that, through the night, 
? Rang their changes from the Belfry 
1 Of that quaint old Flemifh city. 



I 



Longfellouu, 



r 



> 



K^2 




X 



y 




SONG OF THE BELL. 

From the German. 

)ELL! thou soundefl: merrily, 
When the bridal party 

To the church doth hie ! / 
^£^^ Bell! thou soundefl: solemnly,^ 
When, on Sabbath morning, 
Fields deserted lie ! 

Bell ! thou soundefl: merrily ; 
Tellefl: thou at evening, 



45 



V 



^ 



^ 



t 



& 



»>»^ N ,^ ; -- : M ?OK rfSy^rfs*^ ; 



V, 



/;! 



%sv] 




W^k 



-Ck 



x 






>?*£ 



l 4 



t/*-^- ^^■^-r / a#>^^-^-t^^ 





: 



WJ> 



Bedtime draweth nigh ! 
Bell ! thou souhdeft mournfully 
Telleft thou the bitter 

Parting hath gone by ! 

Say ! how canft thou mourn ? 
How canft thou rejoice ? 

Thou art but metal dull ! 
And yet all our sorrowings, 
And all our rejoicings, 

Thou doft feel them all ! 

God hath wonders many, 
Which we cannot fathom, 

Placed within thy form ! 
When the heart is finking, 
Thou alone canft raise it, 

Trembling in the ftorm ! 

Longfellow. 

P 




^Ste^F 



" '--I-- "■ ■-•'- /-. 




; 




THE CAMBRIDGE CHIME. 

TUDENTS rowing on the river, 
^ Brilliant clubs in blue and white, 
Lay upon their oars to liften 
To the mufic of the bells ; 
While the waves beneath them quiver 
In the sunset's golden light, 
And the bubbles dance and gliften 
Far behind them, gay and bright, 

While their song responfive swells 
To the mufic of the bells. 

Hark ! upon some Class-Day morning, 
Gayeft day of all the year, 
Glorioufly we hear them ringing 
Out u Fair Harvard," loud and clear ; 
Then, when round " the tree " entwining 
All Fair Harvard's sons fhall ftand, 
While the sun's laft ray is fhining 



3 1 

On the academic band, 

" Auld Lang Syne" {hall flowly sound, 
And the ftudent chorus swells 
To the mufic of the bells. 

Many a maid fhall, sweetly dreaming, 
Walk around our ancient town, 
And, her eyes with pleasure beaming, 
Hear some merry marriage peal 
From the belfry floating down 
Gently o'er her senses fteal ; 
See the Bride in bright array 
Gayly drive from church away, — 

While each heart responfive swells 
To the mufic of the bells. 

Homeward, toward his Alma Mater, 
Turns the son in after years, 
And, with heart and look sedater, 
Views each scene which reappears 
Peopled with familiar faces, 
Voiceful with remembered mirth, — 
Swift the vanifhed paft retraces, 



/"^rr^-^Mr-i 



32 

Bringing back the loft to earth ; — 

Then descends the soothing chime, i m 

i 
As in that delightful time, 

While his heart responfive swells 

To the mufic of the bells. 

E. Batchelder. 



OLD CHURCH BELLS. 

^J[^ r ®ING out merrily, 

(plft||g Loudly, cheerily, 
Blithe old bells from the fteeple tower. 

Hopefully, fearfully, 

Joyfully, tearfully, 
Moveth the Bride from her maiden bower. 
Cloud there is none in the fair summer Iky ; 
Sunfhine flings benison down from on high ; 
Children fing loud, as the train moves along, 
" Happy the Bride that the sun fhineth on." 

Knell out drearily, 
Measured and wearily, 



■n /-~^J> .*-> /^kb f ? i 






^ 




: 



ffi T 







Peal out evermore — 
Peal as ye pealed of yore. 






- 



Sad old bells from the fteeple gray. 

Priefts chanting lowly -, 

Solemnly, flowly, 
Paffeth the corpse from the portal to-day. 
Drops from the laden clouds heavily fall 
Drippingly over the plume and the pall ; 
Murmur old folk, as the train moves along, 
" Happy the dead that the rain raineth on." 

Toll at the hour of prime, FJ 

Matin, and vesper chime, - /& 

Loved old bells from the fteeple high— ^ 

Rolling, like holy waves, 
Over the lowly graves, 
Floating up, prayer fraught, into the fky. 
L Solemn the leffbn your lighteft notes teach ; 
^ Stern is the preaching your iron tongues preach ; 

Ringing in life from the bud to the bloom, 
3 Ringing the dead to their reft in the tomb* 



t 



: 




JV^ V 



r ^wjQ5 





Brave old bells, on each Sabbath day, 
In sunfhine and gladness, 
Through clouds and through sadness, 
Bridal and burial have both paffed away. 
Tell us life's pleasures with death are ftill rife, 
Tell us that death ever leadeth to life ; 
Life is our labor, and death is our reft, 
If happy the living, the dead are the bleft. 
Dublin University Magazine. 





THE BELLS. 

EAR the fledges with the bells — 
Silver bells — 
What a world of merriment their mel- 
ody foretells ! 
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, 
In the icy air of night ! 
While the ftars that oversprinkle 
All the heavens, seem to twinkle 



( 





-#V ^^ V ^jgr-c y fiS^jg^ 



* 




35 

With a cryftalline delight ; 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Runic rhyme, 
To the tintinnabulation that so mufically wells 
From the bells, bells, bells, bells, 
Bells, bells, bells — 
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. 

Hear the mellow wedding bells, 
Golden bells ! 



- 


A 


ft 


^ 






r" 


V 


S 




A 

\ 




1 


y 


> 


v. 


' f 


r 

• 


\ 



I 



: 



o 

U 

W What a world of happiness their harmony foretells ! % C* 
Through the balmy air of night iO 

How they ring out their delight! 
From the molten-golden notes, 

And all in tune, 
What a liquid ditty floats 
To the turtle-dove that liftens, while (he gloats 
Y On the moon ! 

a^ Oh from out the sounding cells, 

\, What a gufh of euphony voluminoufly wells 
^ How it swells ! 

$ How it dwells 



rp"^^^ 7 ^^^ 








. 



i 



. 7 
«2 






36 



*!3 




On the Future ! how it tells 
Of the rapture that impels 
To the swinging and the ringing 

Of the bells, bells, bells, 
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, 
Bells, bells, bells,— 
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells ! 






1 



Hear the loud alarum bells—- 
Brazen bells ! 
What a tale of terror now their turbulency tells ! 



4 



In the ftartled ear of night 
How they scream out their affright! 
Too much horrified to speak, 
They can only fhriek, fhriek, 
Out of tune, 

y In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire, ^s 
J" In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire, 
Leaping higher, higher, higher, 



/ 



T 



V> 



With a desperate defire, 
And a resolute endeavor, 
Now — now to fit or never, 



190 




r 



i 



r 




37 

By the fide of the pale-faced moon — 
Oh the bells, bells, bells ! 
What a tale their terror tells 

Of Despair ! K 

How they clang and clam and roar ! 
What a horror they outpour 
On the bosom of the palpitating air ! 
Yet the ear it fully knows, 
By the twanging, 
And the clanging, 
How the danger ebbs and flows ; 
Yet the ear diftinctly tells 
In the jangling, 
And the wrangling, 
How the danger finks and swells, 
By the finking or the swelling in the anger of 
the bells — 

Of the bells — 
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, 
Bells, bells, bells— 
\ In the clamor and the clangor of the bells ! 










38 



Hear the tolling of the bells — 
Iron bells ! 
What a world of solemn thought their monody 
compels ! 
In the filence of the night, 
How we fhiver with affright 
At the melancholy menace of their tone ! 
For every sound that floats 
From the ruft within their throats 

Is a groan — 
And the people— ah the people — 
They that dwell up in the fteeple, 

All alone, 
And who tolling, tolling, tolling, 

In that muffled monotone, 
Feel a glory in so rolling 

On the human heart a ftone — 
They are neither man nor woman — 
They are neither brute nor human — 

They are Ghouls : 
And their king it is who tolls ; 
And he rolls, rolls, rolls, 
Rolls, 



2aT 



39 

A pean from the bells ! 
And his merry bosom swells 

With the pean of the bells ! 
And he dances and he yells \ 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Runic rhyme, 
To the pean of the bells — 
Of the bells : 
Keeping time, time, time, 
In a sort of Runic rhyme, 

To the throbbing of the bells — 
Of the bells, bells, bells, — 

To the sobbing of the bells ; 
Keeping time, time, time, 

As he knells, knells, knells, 
In a happy Runic rhyme, . 

To the rolling of the bells — 
Of the bells, bells, bells — 
To the tolling of the bells, 
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, — 
Bells, bells, bells, — 
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells. 

Edgar A. Foe. 




g.^jg—t*^. 





Throng in legions to protect it ; 
They defeat us everywhere ! 

THE BELLS. 

Laudo Deum verum ! 
Plebem voco ! 
Congrego clerum ! 




LUCIFER. 



Lower ! lower ! 



°be^S^w° Hover downward ! 



^J Seize the loud, vociferous bells, and 
Claming, clanging, to the pavement 
Hurl them from their windy tower ! 

VOICES. 

All thy thunders 
Here are harmless ! 
For these bells have been anointed, 
6 



9 








^^r^/j 






\<&~<^3 




And baptized with holy water! 
They defy our utmoft power. 

THE BELLS. 

Defunctos ploro ! 
Peftem fugo ! 
Fefta decoro ! 

LUCIFER. 



'fil^ViJj^ Shake the casements ! 







^^^^F Break the painted 
^O0Os^ Panes, that flame 




Scatter them like leaves of Autumn, 
7 ' JVL > Swept away before the blaft ! 

VOICES. 

2? O, we cannot ! 
j[2L The Archangel 



sit 

.nVM^And the Martyrs, wrapped in mantles, ^MA^ft 
JOn^lIK Stand as wardens at the entrance, 
/>fe Stand as sentinels o'erhead ! 



THE BELLS. 

Excito lentos ! 
Diflipo ventos ! 





Paco cruentos! 



LUCIFER. 



®A^ Craven spirits! leave this labor 
v=Srjip\ Unto Time, the great Deftroyer ! 



mm 





•-« 



<A 



£s 





CHURCH BELLS. 
" Let the hills hear thy voice." 

>AKE me to-night, my mother 
dear, 
That I may hear 

The Chriftmas Bells, so soft and 

QD 1 

clear, 

To high and low glad tidings tell, 

How God the Father loved us well, 

How God the Eternal Son 

Came to undo what we had done, 

How God the Paraclete, 

Who in the chafte womb framed the Babe so 

sweet, 

In power and glory came, the birth to aid and 

greet. 

" Wake me, that I the twelvemonth long 

May bear the song 
About with me in the world's throng ; 






fc 






M 

That treasured joys of Chriftmas tide 
May with mine hour of gloom abide ; 

The Chriftmas carol ring 
Deep in my heart, when I would fins; ; 
Each of the twelve good days 
Its earneft yield of duteous love and praise, 
Ensuring happy months, and hallowing common 
ways. 

" Wake me again, my mother dear, 

That I may hear 
The peal of the departing year. 
O well I love, the ftep of Time 
Should move to that familiar chime : 

Fair fall the tones that fteep 
The Old Year in the dews of fleep, 
The New guide softly in 
With hopes to sweet sad memories akin ! 
Long may that soothing cadence ear, heart, con- 
science win." 

In the dark winter, ere the snow 
Had loft its glow, 



1 



->— -eg t—*n >— ctr >-<"g >— ;"» QQ>— nr 



• 



4 8 



/ ^-4- c^_^ ^-v r^_^ j;C^ 



, 



y 

This melody we learned ; and lo ! 
We hear it now in every breeze 
That ftirs on high the summer trees. 

We pause and look around — 
Where may the lone church-tower be found, 
That speaks our tongue so well ? 
The dim peal in the torrent seems to dwell, 
It greets us from afar in Ocean's measured swell. 

Perhaps we fit at home, and dream 

On some high theme, 
And forms, that in low embers gleam, 
Come to our twilight Fancy's aid : 
Then, wavering as that light and made, 

The breeze will figh and wail, 
And up and down its plaintive scale 
Range fitfully, and bear 
Meet burden to the lowly whispered air, 
And ever the sweet bells, that charmed Life's 
morn, are there. 

The pine-logs on the hearth sometimes 

Mimic the chimes, £ 






49 

The while on high the white wreath climbs, 
Which seething waters upward fling, 
In prison wont to dance and fing, 

All to the same low tune. 
But moft it loves in bowers of June 
At will to come and go, 
Where like a minfter roof the arched boughs mow, 
And court the penfive ear of loiterer far below. 

Be mine at vesper hour to ftray 

Full oft that way, 
And when the dreamy sounds decay, 
As with the sun the gale dies down, 
Then far away, from tower or town, 

A true peal let me hear, 
In manifold melodious cheer, 
Through all the lonely grove 
Wafting a fair good-night from His high love, 
Who ftrews our world with figns from His own 
world above. 

So never with regretful eye 
Need we descry 



Y 

V 



gfi >~x"4 A--C4 y~<-% >—<-x >-x-^ ££ y— <••«■ 

^H f^v^vZ^^-- rv^ _ ^rv^_^ ^-- rv^^fv'^^/^M-- rvv^^^,-- c^y^' rv^_>-^-- c^V-^^- - c^-^~~f* 

Dark mountains in the evening fky, 
Nor on those ears with envy think, 
Which nightly from the catara£t flirink 

In heart-ennobling fear, 
And in the rufhing whirlwind hear, 
(When from his highland cave 
He sweeps unchained over the wintry wave,) 
Ever the same deep chords, such as home fancies 
crave. 

Ever the same, yet ever new, 

Changed and yet true, 

Like the pure heaven's unfailing blue, 

Which varies on from hour to hour, 

Yet of the same high Love and Power 

Tells alway : — such may seem 

Through life, or waking or in dream, 

The echoing Bells that gave 

Our childhood welcome to the healing wave 

Such the remembered Word, so mighty then to 

save. 

Keble. 

I 



i 



ST. SYLVAN'S BELL. 

Desire of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine 
inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy pos- 
session. — Psalter. 

?H^HF FORTNIGHT it was from Whit- 
suntide, 




E 



And a service was said that day, f 



In a little church, that a good man 
built 
In the wilderness far away. 
A twelvemonth before, and there was not there 

Or temple or holy bell ; 
But the place it was free from holiness v 
As the soul of the Infidel. 

Five thousand years this world is old, 

And twice four hundred more, 
And that green spot had foreft been 

From the eldeft days of yore : 



/&:3s — s: r§> s s r-& /- s; ^-£> s — --c ^> ^ -s ,-& ^ — ~x ^> /- — s ^b> (j% 



i 
52 

And there had the red-man made his hut, 

And the savage beaft his lair, 
But never, fince this old earth was young, 

Was it hallowed with Chriftian prayer. 

But now, for the firft, a bell rung out, 

Through the aifles of the wild greenwood, 
And echo came back from the far, far trees, 

Like the holla of Robin Hood : 
And the red-deer woke, in his bofky nook, 

That ftrange, ftrange sound to hear, 
And the jefTamine-buds from his fide he fhook, 

And he liftened awhile in fear. 

But the bell that rings for the Prince of Peace 

Is never a bead's alarm, 
And down went his antlered head agen, 

Like an infant afleep on its arm : 
And the woodman went by, and ftirred him not, 

With his wife and children round, 
And the baby leaped up on its mother's breaft, 

And laughed at the church-bell's sound. 



& « 



.b...W 5^3? 5^3? — W 






53 

For the babe, he was all unchriftened yet, 

And well might he leap for joy ; 
A fountain was gufhing, where rung that bell, 

That fhould make him a Christian boy ! 
And his mother — fhe thought of the Catechift, 

And fhe bleiTed the Lord above, 
That her child fhould be baptized for Christ, 

And taught in his fear and love. 



. 



And fhe prayed in her heart, as Hannah prayed, Y 

He might kneel in the chancel fair, £ 

Like children they brought to the Lord of old, 

To be bleft with the Bifhop's prayer : 
And fhe saw, far off, the vefted prieft, 

The ring, and the marriage-bann, 
Making some maiden a happy wife, 

And her boy a happier man. 

And the bell rung on ; and the wood sent forth, 

From their log-built homes around, 
The yeomanry all with their families, 

A-wondering at the sound; 



£n 



; 



: 







Jj 



' 



cQ 



ti 










; 



v 



; 



And tears I saw in an old man's eye, 

That came from a far countree ; 
It minded his inmoft soul, he said, 

Of the church-bells over the sea. 

For a boy was he, in England, once, 

And he loved the merry chimes ; 
Had heard them ring out of a Whitsuntide, 

And waken the holiday-times ! 
And a boy was he when hither he came, 

But now he was old and gray ; 
He had not thought that a Chriftian bell 

Should toll on his burial-day. 

A boy was he when he firfl: swung axe 

Againft the ftrong oak limb ; 
He was gray-haired now, when he heard the 
bell, 
And threw it away from him ; 
And he followed the sound — for he thought of 
home, 




Qi 



* 



fl 



S\ 



2^^2^L2^£K 



**&J$ 



And the motherly hand so fair, 
V That led him along through the churchyard 
mounds, 
And made him kneel down to prayer. 



iy 



And now did an organ's peal break out, 

And the bell-notes died away : 
And a holy Bifhop, in robes, was there, 

And priefts in their white array. 
And I heard a voice go up the nave, 

And the priefts, responding plain ; 
" Lift up your heads, ye gates " — they said, 

" For the King of Glory's train ! " 

And I could not but weep, for I knew, on 
high, 
The Saviour had afked of God, 
That the utmoft lands might all be his, 

And the ground whereon I trod ; 
And I bleffed the good Lord, that here at 
length 



3 



■^ 



k^5 ^ ; 




' *~\, 



^ ; 



^Z7^3^ 




^^*» 



-v 




/ 






kr&± ^-4r^ ^-kr^> & 



56 

His own true heralds came, 
To challenge for Christ his heritage, 
And hallow it with His Name. 



Now pray with me, that ever there 

St. Sylvan's bell may ring, 
And the yeoman brave, with their chil- 
dren all, 
The praise of the Saviour fing : 
And pray ye ftill, that, further weft, 
The song of the belJ may sound, 
Till the land, from sea to sea, is bleft, 
And the world is holy ground. 

Arthur C. Coxe. 



?X5 

■ m 



Si 



£ 

\ 

K 



§3 

} 



A 



m2=£°=±2z 



"^J\-^ **%J\-^ 









y,-^ t—kr*** ^~kr^ ?~-kr^ ^-4> 





GODMINSTER CHIMES. 
IPgODMINSTER ! is it Fancy's 

m ^y ? 

W£S$ I know not, but the word 
Sings in my heart, nor can I say 

I dreamed the name, or heard ; 
Yet fragrant in my mind it clings 

As bloflbms after rain, 
And builds of half-remembered things 

This vifion in my brain. 

Through aifles of long-drawn centuries 
My spirit walks in thought, 

And to that symbol lifts its eyes 
Which God's own pity wrought ; 

From Calvary mines the altar's gleam, 
The Church's eaft is there, 



*^\^ ^'^-o v^-s' ^- 



T 




- \% 





&« 



rv 



t 





e^-? 



That throbs with praise and prayer. 



CN^v^^ The ages one great minfter seem 

0<^^0 And, a ^ tne wa y fr° m Calvary down, 

Vn^H- The carven pavement mows 

^iRTaT)!! n ^ ne ^ r g ra ves who won the martyr's 

^w5te) crown 

S )|aH ' ^ ^d Sa ^ ^ ^d re P 0Se 3 

^l^rx^JK The saints of many a warring; creed, 

"'■H/^>Rfe Who now in heaven have learned 

(f?y\l(c^?) That all paths to the Father lead 

Ww 



Where Self the feet have spurned. 








C>C%><D One Mary bathes the bleffed feet 



@ 



^ 



Ir^ With ointment from her eyes, 
P)^ With spikenard one, and both are 
sweet, 
For both are sacrifice. 

rS^/^ S A4oravian hymn and Roman chant 

T 

^/yC--T) One prayer soars cleansed with martyr 
; U_ h fire, 

^ne hoarse with finner's tears ; 
oOO^ I n heaven both plain with one defire, O*0<v 
CO \m? And God one mufic hears. 

While thus I dream, the bells clafh out ^>X> 
' r/\K4 Upon the Sabbath air, 



In one devotion blend 
: L To speak the soul's eternal want 
Of Him, the inmoft friend ; 








f^^^-^^¥^ 






»r 




^ 



4K.4t? 



V 




^ Each seems a selfifh faith to fhout, 

A hoftile form of prayer ; 
# My dream is (nattered, yet who knows /^ 
/ But in that heaven so near, 
$? This discord into mufic flows 
v In God's atoning ear ? 

m 



rJj^L O, chime of bleffed Charity, 
C>d^>0 Peal soon that Eafter morn 
^ffiSf When Chrift for all fhall risen be 
And in all hearts new-born ! 
That Pentecoft when utterance clear 
To all men fhall be given, 
w When all can say My brother here, 
And hear My son in heaven ! 
J. R. Lowell 




^^W^^^y^^^ ^y^^&^^ip^ 








J^< 



Tis filence all, and with the wind 

The song has floated by. 
But hark ! there is a trembling note, 
That in the diftance seems to float, 

Like far-off" echoes of the ftrain, 

It kindles, it revives again, f^^Av 

The diftant sounds approach more nigh, ( %Jy%^ 

And all once more is harmony. 



i 




V The bells which peal from that old V^ 
tower 
Have been baptized with holy rite, 
For that alone would give the power 

Such solemn feelings to excite. 
There is a cadence in the tone 
That speaks of other worlds alone, 
For sure no voice of earthly song 
Could to those trembling notes belong, 







t 






' 







yOO That from some choir of harmony 



Floating suspended in the iky 
Vifit us here below. 




o^^AMSw And whether it may be the knell 

. CToU^P m .. i • u n 

3^|j c p Ur parting soul, or marriage bell, 

The solemn message seems to swell 

^) With sound prophetic, to impart 

vji^ Some future leiTon to the heart, 

'e^lo^f And from the present, or the part, 

Vp!*!*^ Recall the wandering thoughts, to caft £*S?S 

U er coming times, some transient J\ 

glow, ov 

Or some impending fhadow throw 
On future scenes of weal or woe. 
From a Friend, 












> 



i 

I 
I 

i 







T 



FROM "URANIA, A RHYMED LESSON." 
HE air is hufhed ; the ftreet is holy ground ; 



come sound ; 
As one by one awakes each filent tongue, 
It tells the turret whence its voice is flung, — 
The Chapel, laft of sublunary things 
That fhocks our echoes with the name of Kings, 
Whose bell, juft gliftening from the font and forge, 
Rolled its proud requiem for the second George, 
Solemn and swelling as of old it rang, 
Flings to the wind its deep, sonorous clang ; — 
The fimpler pile, that, mindful of the hour 
When Howe's artillery {hook its half-built tower, 
Wears on its bosom, as a bride might do, 
The iron breaftpin which the " Rebels " threw, 
Wakes the fharp echoes with the quivering thrill 
Of keen vibrations, tremulous and fhrill ; — 
Aloft, suspended in the morning's fire, 
Crafh the vaft cymbals from the Southern spire ; — 
The Giant, (landing by the elm-clad green, 



y& ■ fe v-s^O. .V->^o .v^^o .w^o., .v.^ 



i2...^-< k.>-^ u.>~j i3..> — i' W^~ 

ix 






65 



His white lance lifted o'er the filent scene, 
Whirling in air his brazen goblet round, 
Swings from its brim the swollen floods of sound ;- 
While, sad with memories of the olden time, 
The Northern minftrel pours her tender chime,- 
Faint, fingle tones, that spell their ancient song, 
But tears ftill follow as they breathe along. 

O. W. Holmes. 

FROM "IN MEMORIAM, CIV." 

ING out wild bells to the wild fky, 
The flying cloud, the frofty light : 
The year is dying in the night ; 
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 

Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 
The year is going, let him go ; 

Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

Ring out the grief that saps the mind, 

For those that here we see no more ; 
9 




4 



»» ^v, .^ ^v, ...^ ^^ .^^, .^^ ^, ...<-, ^, ...^<«, 

~ i «P > s W? >- y o C5 ^F S - >r ^ S—^tT'o ^ Is v ^p ;s ^C^ 

66 

Ring out the feud of rich and poor, 
Ring in redress to all mankind. 

Ring out a flowly dying cause, 

And ancient forms of party ftrife ; 

Ring in the nobler modes of life, 
With sweeter manners, purer laws. 

Ring out the want, the care, the fin, 
The faithless coldness of the times ; 
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes, 

But ring the fuller minftrel in. 

Ring out false pride in place and blood, 

The civic flander and the spite ; 

Ring in the love of truth and right, 
Ring in the common love of good. 

Ring out old fhapes of foul disease, 

Ring out the narrowing luft of gold ; 
Ring out the thousand v/ars of old, 

Ring in the thousand years of peace. 



SVIFFH 



1 



6 7 



|^§St?dj How many a tale their mufic tells, 
Of youth, and home, and that sweet time, 
When laft I heard their soothing chime. 

Those joyous hours are paft away ; 
And many a heart that then was gay, 
Within the tomb now darkly dwells, 



i 



Ring in the valiant man and free, 

The larger heart, the kindlier hand ; 
Ring out the darkness of the land, 

Ring in the Chrift that is to be. 

Tennyson. 



THOSE EVENING BELLS. 

^^g|HOSE evening bells ! those evening 
T p bells ! 



.. 



And hears no more those evening bells. 

And so 'twill be when I am gone ; 
That tuneful peal will ftill ring on, 
While other bards fhall walk these dells, 
And fing your praise, sweet evening bells ! 

Moore. 






i 



- 



^ r— #">-A c — £- 



-X 



jJI? 



V 




■ 



m 






^'^-^^-tT <#^ 



^ c ^^gs^ 



'^ ° EKi 




FROM " THE GOLDEN LEGEND." 

)OR the bells themselves are the beft of 
preachers ; 
Their brazen lips are learned teachers, 
From their pulpits of ftone, in the upper air, 
Sounding aloft, without crack or flaw, 
Shriller than trumpets under the Law, 
Now a sermon and now a prayer. 
The clangorous hammer is the tongue, 
This way, that way, beaten and swung, 
That from mouth of brass, as from Mouth of 

Gold, 
May be taught the Teftaments, New and Old. 
And above it the great crofT-beam of wood 
Representeth the Holy Rood, 
Upon which, like the bell, our hopes are hung. 
And the wheel wherewith it is swayed and rung 
Is the mind of man, that round and round 



r^^^^^r^^r^^ ^r^ 



,3? ^J^ ^J^^^J^ %^^ ^-'^ 



; 



M 

\ 

r 
c, 

fir 

w 

I 



i 

61 



M 




\2^ Jt-^,^ J^, 




t=ki 



±r~-** cfc 



.^C^3^-C^U_/', 



f 



A^} 



6 9 



Sways, and maketh the tongue to sound ! 

And the rope, with its twilled cordage three, 

Denoteth the Scriptural Trinity 

Of Morals, and Symbols, and Hiftory ; 

And the upward and downward motions fhow 

That we touch upon matters high and low ; 

And the conftant change and transmutation 

Of a&ion and of contemplation, 

Downward, the Scripture brought from on high, 

Upward, exalted again to the fky ; 

Downward, the literal interpretation, 

Upward, the Vifion and Myftery ! 

Longfellow. 



FROM "IN MEMORIAM, XXVIII." 



IBHSHE time draws near the birth of 
j r£ t Chrift: 



i=e»! 



'■:. 



rm 



A 

m 



i 

gg The moon is hid ; the night is ftill ; jJ K 



The Chriftmas bells from hill to hill 
Answer each other in the mift. 





^^p? ^J 



s 



70 

Four voices of four hamlets round, 

From far and near, on mead and moor, 
Swell out and fail, as if a door 

Were fhut between me and the sound : 

Each voice four changes on the wind, 
That now dilate, and now decrease, 
Peace and good-will, good-will and peace, q 

Peace and good-will, to all mankind. 

This year I flept and woke with pain, 
I almoft wiflied no more to wake, 
And that my hold on life would break, 

Before I heard those bells again : 

But they my troubled spirit rule, 

For they controlled me when a boy ; 
They bring me sorrow touched with joy, 

The merry, merry bells of Yule. 



lL_z=fc> s K d^_ s " 



tA f-4.^ M>r^ &> t-kr&* r 



4r^ 



~^€ 



j£-c 






uo 



w^ 



j&~ 



1 






V 



V 

\ 

b 

4 




•12 
- 



HOW SOFT THE MUSIC OF THOSE 
VILLAGE BELLS. 

)OW soft the mufic of those village bells, 
Falling at intervals upon the ear 
In cadence sweet, now dying all away, 
Now pealing loud again, and louder ftill, • 
Clear and sonorous, as the gale comes on ! 
With easy force it opens all the cells 
Where Memory flept. Wherever I have heard 
A kindred melody, the scene recurs, 
And with it all its pleasures and its pains. 
Such comprehenfive views the spirit takes, 
That in a few fhort moments I retrace 
(As in a map the voyager his course) 
The windings of my way through many years. 

Coivper. 



% 



i 

I 







^T^-^V 7 !-^ N ^C< 



_^^ 



-M 




^ XQ\ 



L' ENVOI. 

when the fturdy ringers, spent at laft, 
I Forsake the heated ropes, and all around 
Collect in liftening groups, what time the sound 
Of harmonies aerial is caft 
In one completed cadence, far and faft 
Across the dark, or thro' the hum profound 
Of early dawning, deftly interwound 
With waking bird-note, "night is overpaft ; "- — 
So nave we heard the various descant rung 
From many a poet's heart, (like ivied towers 
Vocal within, if seeming cold and dull,) — 
And now their tales are told, their songs are sung, 
Prolonged vibrations on our thoughtful hours 
Are chiming yet, divinely mufical ! 



& 



v 



^^~ 



■ = ••■:•■>:. 

jfrBlfffffTHBTO 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

111111111111111111*1 

021 100 748 5 









